Shifting ground: Theological conflict and the beginning of Adventist creedal formation 1929-1932

Abstract

In the early 1930s serious theological conflict initiated by respected church leaders created what was perceived as existential danger for Seventh-day Adventism. The threat of erosion of core teachings transformed the solid ground of the church’s previous anti-creedalism into shifting ground where statements of belief came to be considered necessary to help preserve the church’s belief system against further damage. Summaries of belief previously conceded to be helpful for the instruction of the public came to be seen as necessary instruments to measure the limits of variation and doctrinal divergence within the community. Consumers were now not members of the public but church leaders themselves as they sought for statements that could function as measures of what was accepted belief, of who was and who was not an Adventist pastor or teacher, or even a lay person. This paper will investigate the short period when the hard ground of anti-creedalism first began to soften. As a case study of the critical 1930s it will seek to understand the historical context and the dynamics at play that led to the willingness to develop creedal-like statements even as church leaders, still highly sensitive to the anti-Creedal tradition, strove to avoid making it look like this was what they were actually doing.